


From Love To Loss

by Noble_Lady_of_Magvel



Category: Naruto
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-28
Updated: 2015-08-28
Packaged: 2018-04-17 14:38:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4670387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Noble_Lady_of_Magvel/pseuds/Noble_Lady_of_Magvel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The aftermath of the war, as they piece together their new lives and hesitantly re-explore old relationships. Written with some characters that died as if they survived. Seven fluffy angsty drabbles.</p>
            </blockquote>





	From Love To Loss

~Love~

"Naruto," she whispered to herself, creeping behind a tree trunk and following him quietly as always, from afar.

So caught up in her spying, she didn't notice a second Naruto behind her until he clasped both hands on her shoulders.

"Aiee!" She screamed while he laughed, because what she had been watching was only one of his shadow clones he created to distract her while the real Naruto snuck up from behind.

"Man Hinata, didn't anyone ever tell you stalking's a crime?" He teased her but there was no anger in his voice or the ever-present smile on his face.

"Ah, I, um," she stuttered and blushed. Hinata looked away, unable to meet his eyes.

"You don't need to sneak around and hide y'know, you can just come up and say whatever you want to me. I won't bite, at least not hard." He laughed at his own joke.

I love you.

I've always loved you.

You're amazing.

I want to be by your side forever.

Her heart pounded and the words were right on the tip of her tongue but all she could stammer out was, "I'm trying... trying to be brave like you but..."

Naruto threw back his head and roared with laughter. "Brave? You mean like throwing yourself in front of Obito's attack to be my human shield doesn't count as brave? You think forcing me to keep fighting when we were on the verge of losing wasn't brave?" He grabbed her hand like he did that day on the battlefield and gave it a gentle squeeze. "You've come a long way Hinata, you're the bravest you could possibly get."

Hinata felt the heat rising to her face and the warmth from his hand spread across her body. "N-no... I'm really not... B-but one day I'll be," she said softly.

Despite the thudding in her chest she forced herself to raise her head to stare at his face. One day she would be brave enough to say the other things she wanted to say. Believe it.

~Lilt~

"Do you want a piece of orange?" Kakashi offered him a segment on the point of his kunai knife.

Obito accepted and squeezed the juice into his mouth before wiping his sticky hands on his pants.

They were sitting under the shade of a tall oak tree, staring at the village from from the top of a hilly landscape and thinking their own thoughts. The two former teammates left enough room between them for Rin to sit, the way the three of them sat when they were all together.

"So what did you think?"

"A bit tart, but still good."

"I'm not talking about the orange, idiot." Kakashi glanced at his friend to gauge his reaction but Obito's face remained impassive.

"Three years of service to the Anbu, a few more playing sensei to some genin, plus being on call as proctor for the chunin and jonen examinations." Obito fingered the new leaf headband he was issued. Even after so many years it felt familiar, a reminder of duty and pride. "I got off too easy."

"Well let's see, you tried to destroy the world by wrapping everyone in some kind of infinate dream state, orchestrated the Uchiha massacre, manipulated the sole user of the Rinnegan into attacking Konoha, numerous other war crimes, and have been nothing but an ungrateful jackass after everything settled down," Kakashi ticked off on his fingers.

"So why did they let me live?"

"In your defense you did switch sides in the end and we couldn't have won without your help," Kakashi offered.

Obito said nothing.

"Tsunade's a regular old bleeding heart. Once she heard your full story she decided that your only real crime was being Madara's unfortunate puppet."

"And I don't suppose you were the one who told her?"

Beneath his mask Kakashi smiled. "Your life was on the line, what was I supposed to do? Abandon my old comrade when he needed me most?"

He grinned at his friend. "Bakakashi." Even after many years the old nickname slid off his tongue in his familiar lilt.

After that they sat in comfortable silence.

"She loved you, you know." Kakashi said softly, when he couldn't hold the confession in anymore.

Obito shook his head. "No Bakakashi, it was you she loved."

"That's not true Obito. When we thought you were dead, she cried. For days. And..."

"And?"

"When she jumped in front of my raikiri, I felt her thoughts. If she was willing to die, it was because she didn't want to live without you."

The irony of it made him laugh until he cried, but thankfully Kakashi was there to offer his shoulder to his friend.

~Lissome~

"Rise and shine sensei!" Lee called and flipped over Guy's blankets to reveal his irate sensei clad in a sky-blue onesie.

"Jeez Lee, I'm still under bed-rest," he complained and yanked the covers back down.

His student shook his head and frowned, then began his morning stretches in front of Guy's bed as if to encourage him. "Sensei, don't you know what season it is? It's... THE SPRINGTIME OF YOUTH!" He cheered and began running laps around the room.

"Um," a nurse interrupted him mid-lap. "Excuse me but my patient needs to be ready for physiotherapy in ten minutes." They were in the Konoha hospital, sterile tiles, sterile walls, and a vase of lilies rested on his night stand. Lee had opened the window upon his arrival, and the light yellow curtain flapped gently in the spring breeze.

"I'll bring him!" Lee promised, "On my hands too, that's a promise!" He flipped over on his hands using his feet to push Guy's wheelchair towards the bed. "Training after physiotherapy though, five hundred laps around Konoha at least!"

As much as he tried, Guy couldn't be angry at Lee's earnest enthusiasm. Instead he laughed and heaved himself into the wheelchair.

"Alright you win, you know what they say about training routines."

"A day that you skip is a day you're getting worse," Lee recited dutifully, racing the wheelchair down the hallway, on his hands as he promised.

~Labyrinthine~

It took Orochimaru no less than three gambling dens, two bars, and one ramen restaurant to find Tsunade nursing her fourth cup of sake, cheeks flushed and eyes unfocused.

"It should have been you tracking me down, not the other way around," he hissed with a slithering tongue as he slid into the red-cushioned seat across from her.

She looked up blearily, mouth turned down and a hair's breadth from weeping, her usual expression when she was in her cups.

"You've got a lot of nerve you know, waltzing around here like you aren't still an S-rank missing-nin with a generous bounty on your head," she slurred. "Just because your records say you're dead doesn't mean you're pardoned. When-when I get my assistants to update the files you're-"

His sallow lips stretched into a thin smile. "You're drunk, Tsunade."

"I know." Suddenly she fixed him with an intense stare, squinting her eyes as she stood up, trembly-kneed and swaying side to side like a drunk. Because she was drunk.

"What happened Orochimaru? When did you start becoming a criminal, and when did you stop?" She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Have you stopped?"

"What's so criminal about craving knowledge and wanting to unravel the mysteries of death and eternal life?" He shrugged. "To answer your question yes I've decided to stop my previous experiments. After watching the world from inside Sasuke's mind, I've had a change of heart. There's new experiments I want to perform, most of them legal this time and I need a place to set up my labs in Konoha."

She laughed at the ex-criminal's boldness, a windy burst from her heaving bosom. "I know you helped us in the end, but what makes you think I won't order your death?"

He pushed back a hank of limp dark hair from his pale grey face and smiled obsequiously. Tread carefully now. "I was your teammate, surely that's got to count for something."

"Pffft, try again," she scoffed with an airy wave of her hand.

"When you were enveloped in the Infinite Tsukuyomi, what did you dream about?"

...

Her brow furrowed and she looked away in embarrassment. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Orochimaru leaned forward and splayed his fingers on the table. "Don't avoid the question Tsunade, it's unbecoming of the Hokage."

"I dreamed that Dan was Hokage," she confessed, "we were laughing and talking, until I saw Jiraiya sharing a porn magazine with my younger brother. I was angry, but it was a happy kind of angry."

"But I was there wasn't I?"

She gave him a drunken half smile. "Yeah you were there too, smirking that bastard smirk like you found everything so amusing."

Orochimaru sat back and crossed his arms in satisfaction. "And that's why you will never kill me."

~Lassitude~

It was raining. It was always raining in the mist country, but today it beat down on Konan relentlessly, soaking through her clothes until the heavy chill settled deep in her bones. She trudged on, her hair clinging to her face and on her long lashes, rain running down her full lips and down her chin.

She made her way to their graves, Yahiko's Nagato's and Jiraiya's. They had been buried next to each other, after she had retrieved Jiraiya's bones from the bottom of the river. Had they met in thr afterlife? Had they made peace with themselves and each other?

"Why do all the men in my life have to leave me?" She murmured to the bed of soft pink flowers. Her knees sank to the ground when she could no longer bear the weight. When did she feel so tired?

Before the Second Shinobi War she had a father and two brothers. When the war took them away she was a frightened young girl beside herself with grief, until she met Yahiko. He had reminded her of her older brother, loud and boisterous and a natural leader. Then she had found Nagato, clutching his skin-and-bones dog to his chest while he lay starving on the street. He had reminded her of her younger brother, solemn and shy but fiercely protective of the people he loved. Her family was complete when they met Jiraiya, who reminded her of her father, caring and clever and strong, she had felt safest when she had her father or Jiraiya looking after her.

But too soon her second family was also taken away and a Third Shinobi War followed, leaving her completely alone. Tears streamed down her face, mingling with the rain and the taste in her mouth was salty and earthy.

"He did it," she said to their graves. "Naruto, he saved us all, and we have peace now. You three would be so proud of him."

She didn't know how long she was kneeling there in front of their graves until one of her daughters crept up the hill to fetch her. She stopped a respectful distance away and hesitated.

"Mother?" She called shyly. "It's getting late, and we're wondering if you changed your mind and-" Konan whirled around and hugged the girl suddenly, catching her off-guard.

"I'm sorry, I was just caught up with my old friends. Don't ever think I would leave you." She took her small hand in hers and they headed back down the hill together.

War had left behind its orphans as usual, and this time she had taken on the role of protector and leader, keeping them safe like Yahiko, Nagato, and Jiraiya had done for her.

~Leisure~

Gaara stared at the board for a long time, frowning at the remaining black and white pieces but no matter how he looked at it the result was always the same.

"Give it up man, you lost and you know it," his opponent drawled lazily, splayed out on the floor with his head resting on one hand.

They had been playing all morning, and Gaara had lost every single game. "Tch." He cleared the board with a sweep of his hand, his sand picking up the pieces and placing them neatly in the box.

"I told you little brother, no one can beat Shikamaru at shoji," his sister smiled and edged closer to the spiky-haired teen. Too close.

"A commendable victory," he said curtly, "and I would like to play again but I have to return to the Sunageture to attend to my duties as Kazekage." He rose to leave.

"Man, that's such a drag," Shikamaru said from the floor, drawing a pattern with his finger on the wooden floor. "You couldn't pay me to be a Kage, too much work, not enough free time for lazing around."

Are all the Naras so lazy? He wondered. What did Temari see in this boy?

"Why did you take the job anyway?" He raised his head from the floor to gaze at Gaara with a curious frown on his face.

"The same reason you became a chunin," Gaara replied.

Shikamaru held up his hands in defense. "What? I didn't do anything, they just gave me the jacket and the promotion, it's not like I could have said no."

"They gave you the promotion because they knew you were ready for it and deserved it. It's the same for me, I couldn't refuse."

"Yeah you totally could have," Shikamaru argued back. "They could have just found someone else to do the job."

Gaara slid open the tatami door and turned back to give him a sad smile. "No, I couldn't. My country needed me to be Kazekage, like how Konoha needed you to be a chunin."

~Loss~

"Hey Shikamaru, Ino!" Choji huffed and puffed as he jogged over to his friends. "Where are you guys going without me?"

When they turned around and he saw the white chrysanthemums that they were holding in their arms he realized his mistake.

"Oh," he faltered and stopped in his tracks. Shikamaru and Ino said nothing but regarded him with sad eyes, waiting for his response. "L-let me accompany you two to the cemetery," he blurted out. Inoshikacho did everything together, and he couldn't let them go alone.

As the three of them walked down the winding grey road Choji's stomach twisted uncomfortably as he became more and more aware that he didn't belong. What right did he have to visit their fathers' graves with them when his own father was still alive?

They lit incense and laid down the flowers for Shikaku and Inojichi who had been buried side by side as heroes of the Third Shinobi War.

Ino sniffed and pulled out her handkerchief while Shikamaru blinked back tears and tilted his head back to look at the sky. Choji scuffed his feet at the weeds that grew between the grey bricks wondering if they resented his presence.

He knew what it felt to lose a father, the tearing feeling in his chest and the nonono that screamed in his mind. His father had died during Pain's assault, but Pain had also brought him back to life. He glanced at his friends. How could he help Shikamaru and Ino? What could he do for them to lessen their pain?

He closed his eyes and thought back to the day he thought his father had died. What had he wanted his friends to do?

Hesitantly, he reached out both arms and wrapped both friends in a light embrace. He couldn't bring their fathers back nor take their place, but he could remind them that he was there.

And that's all that she wrote...


End file.
